NORTH YORK SHIRE, ENGLAND
Whitby’s 199 Steps lead from the clifftop ruins of Whitby Abbey down to the old town and harbour
If proof were needed that seaside towns aren’t just for summer, Whitby is it. Going strong since Viking times, it looks like something out of a Hovis ad, with narrow lanes, fishing boats bobbing in the harbour, and tiers of pastel-hued houses arranged around the River Esk in a cheery last hurrah as it meets the North Sea. When you’ve finished ambling about town, be sure to strike out on a bracing walk along Whitby’s fossil-studded sands or along the clifftop via its abbey ruins to Ravenscar, where colonies of grey seals winter with their newborn pups.There are plenty of ricketty inns to settle in to when you’re done roaming, including Dickens’ favourite, the White Horse and Griffin.